Breaking the Rules: A Billionaire Romance

by Sarah J. Brooks

  There had to be someone that hated River for something more than just a financial reason. If they were bringing his child into the discussion, it was personal and not just business. Mariah started to look through the online tabloids to see if any of the stories about River seemed to pop out at her.

  “That story isn’t true,” River said as he stood in the doorway and looked at Mariah.

  Mariah was at her desk so River couldn’t really see what she was reading, only that she was leaned over and intently scanning the computer monitor.

  Her heart fluttered like a schoolgirl at River’s voice, and it took her a second to get herself together and try to think of something witty to say in return. Unfortunately, no witty response came at all, and instead, Mariah just pointed to the monitor and then to a chair across from her desk for River to sit while she finished the story.

  “So I’m looking for someone that hates you. On a personal level, not in business. Do you have any ideas?”

  River laughed at first but then realized that Mariah was totally serious, so he started to think. Mariah knew a man like River probably had tons of enemies, but which one hated him enough to bring up his son and make threats to ruin his son’s life?

  “I don’t know. I didn’t think anyone disliked me enough to do something like this. Sure they tell stories to the tabloids and stuff like that, but this is a whole different level.”

  “What about an ex-employee? Is there any way someone overheard you talking to your assistant while at work?”

  River seemed totally surprised by the idea that it could be an employee or ex-employee of his. He hadn’t even considered it a possibility, that was clear from the expression on his face.

  “An employee? I don’t know. I’ve fired several people over the years.”

  “Specifically, I would say it was someone more recent; like within the last couple of years. Is there anyone that you can think of that would be capable of something like this?”

  Mariah paused while River seemed to be contemplating all the employees that he had released over the last few years. Certainly, there had to be someone that stood out in his mind. There had to be that one guy, or girl that River had been afraid of after he fired them.

  “Stewart Pine, I fired him about four years ago. He was always going through April’s desk. I thought he was stealing the petty cash, but he certainly could have found something that pointed to me having a son. I’m not sure how he would know who Jackson’s mother was, though. And I never had any issues with him after I fired him.”

  “That’s good, a great place to start at least. Oh, what about the CEO of Rolled Oat Life? I saw a story where he was bad mouthing you. What happened there?”

  “No, it couldn’t be Greg, we are friends now.”

  “Really?” Mariah said without being able to hide her surprise.

  “Yes, he filed a lawsuit against me, and I insisted that we sit down and have a beer and discuss things. We worked things out, and he ended up dropping the lawsuit. We still go golfing about once a month.”

  Mariah nodded her head in understanding, but she was a little disappointed her one suspect had to be removed from her list.

  “Who else hates you?” she asked urgently.

  “I’m sorry to disappoint you, Mariah, but I don’t know who hates me enough to do something like this. I really didn’t think there was anyone that felt that strongly about me. Even the people I’ve fired over the years didn’t seem all that angry.”

  Mariah let her head fall to the table as she tried to think of what to do next. They were running out of time and had to come up with someone to go after. Otherwise, they were going to be watching the news as the biggest secret in River’s life was released for public consumption.

  “Mariah, it’s alright. I mean the worst thing that could happen would be my company would go under, my son would hate me, and I would be on the street. But at least, I wouldn’t be dead,” River said as he tried to get Mariah to smile.

  “You aren’t helping at all. This is serious, River. I need to figure this out. There has to be a link to this person, Kimberly, Jackson and you. We just aren’t seeing it yet. We need to think harder.”

  River laughed at Mariah, and she instantly got defensive. Didn’t River understand, this wasn’t just his life on the line? If she screwed this up, it was going to mean working the second chair for at least another year before her father would allow her to work on a case again. She had to handle this better than her father or anyone else could even imagine if she was going to prove her worth to the company. Being the daughter of the owner didn’t really have very many benefits at all. Mariah felt like she had to work harder than everyone else just to prove herself.

  “Let’s take a break; maybe if we clear our heads, something will come to us,” River offered as he stood up and towered over Mariah.

  “We can’t just be fucking around. There is work to do.”

  “Who said anything about fucking,” River winked as he grabbed Mariah and pulled her out of her office and down the hallway.

  “Jennifer, I’m going out for a little bit. Just send my calls to my cell for me. Thanks so much,” Mariah said as she pulled her hand away from River so the secretary wouldn’t see them holding hands.

  Mariah didn’t know exactly what she was doing, but she couldn’t think straight in her office and loved the idea of going for a walk or something. She did need to straighten out her thoughts if she was going to figure out the mystery phone call that River had received.

  The two of them walked around for most of the afternoon as they discussed River’s past and the people who had been in it. Mariah was surprised by all the kindness that River had in his life, even with all the companies he had taken over.

  In the news stories, she had read the business deals seemed so contentious, and Mariah had thought one of those men was likely the person they were looking for. But as they discussed more and more of his past business deals and River’s personal life, Mariah got lost in thought. None of the people he talked about seemed like the type of person who would make the phone call that River had received.

  By the time night fell, Mariah was farther away from finding the caller than she had felt early in the morning. Although she was happy that she and River had found the time to talk and get to know each other more, Mariah still had no idea who was making the threats.

  They only had about twelve hours before the governor called his press conference and announced he was running for president. There wasn’t enough time to stop things anymore. Mariah resigned herself to moving into a defensive position as soon as the news came out.

  “I guess we should start discussing how we can defend this information when it comes out.”

  “Yes, we should be prepared,” River said as they sat on a bench in the park across from Mariah’s work.

  “We could admit you have a son from a previous relationship and see if that satisfies people. What do you think about that?”

  “I think it will depend on how much information they let out. If they know Kimberly is the mother, I suspect they will let that piece of information out. Everyone knows that Kimberly and her husband have been married for fifteen years. I won’t be able to explain why I have a ten-year-old son with her, that’s for sure.”

  “Okay, so let’s make a list of possible responses based on how much information is released. Alright?”

  “Yes, I want to try and spin this as positive as possible.”

  “As positive as an affair can be,” Mariah said solemnly. “I don’t think you’re going to end up looking like a good guy after this.”

  Chapter 13

  RIVER

  Going to work on the day of the press conference was the last thing that River wanted to do. He wanted to be at Public Waves with Mariah and Elizabeth and preparing for how they were going to handle the release of information. But Mariah had insisted that River continue with life as usual; she didn’t want there to be any sign of something unusual going on.r />
  “You look tense,” Edward said as he joined River in his office. “Everything go alright with that girl?”

  Edward and River had been best friends for years; it was impossible to hide things from him. Yet River had successfully hidden his past with Kimberly for the last ten years. Of course, Edward knew that River volunteered with the technology club and had been assigned a partner kid, but Edward had no idea that the kid was really River’s son.

  It had been difficult at first not to tell Edward, but as the years dragged on, the secret became part of his life, and River didn’t feel the need to tell anyone. He wanted to protect Jackson and that meant keeping the secret from everyone.

  “I am tense, but nothing too big. What’s going on with the new family product plan we are rolling out? Any news from Wholesome Foods?”

  “Nope, things are going well. The lawyers are looking over contracts, and we should have some movement by next week. I’d like to get the major markets released by late next month if that’s possible.”

  “Sure, whatever you think,” River said as he stared at the television on the opposite wall of his office.

  The press conference was getting ready to start, and the local news station kept going back and forth to their reporters. River wasn’t exactly sure what he was looking for, but somehow he thought there would be a person he knew standing around just waiting to release his secret to everyone there.

  “You sure seem interested in the governor’s press conference; you getting into politics now?”

  River ignored Edward as he watched Governor Emerald take the stage with a group of people. Kimberly stood next to her husband, and several other state employees were there as well. The intensity of the moment had River sitting on the edge of his seat and even forced Edward to sit down and watch as well.

  “Hello everyone, I’m Lana Stewart, press secretary to Governor Emerald. We are so happy to see all your lovely faces here today. Before I introduce the governor, I’d like to take a moment and thank all the people who have been iatrical in this announcement…”

  “What announcement?” Edward asked.

  “Shhh, I think the governor is going to announce he is running for president.”

  “Really? Emerald doesn’t seem like the type of guy who would want to be in the White House.”

  “Really Edward … what type of guy would want to be in the White House?” River asked annoyingly to his friend.

  “I’m not sure. I was thinking of someone not as nice. Maybe someone like you.”

  Both River and Edward busted into laughter at the thought of River running for president. River wasn’t exactly sure why Edward found it so funny, but River couldn’t even imagine all the secrets of his life that would come out if he ran for such a well-known office.

  “I think I’ll stay here; I’m bad at being politically correct.” River turned back toward the screen to watch as the governor finally took the podium.

  “Mistakes, we have all made them, and we all live with them. I’ve made some throughout my tenure as governor, and I won’t hide from those mistakes. But it’s a new day and a day of taking responsibility for our actions, and I’m ready to move forward and guide the country into this new era. Today I, Millard Emerald, announce that I will be running for the office of President.”

  River instantly picked up his phone and started to dial Mariah’s number when he saw a call coming in from her office.

  “Mariah?” he answered.

  “Yes, and Elizabeth is here too.”

  “What was that speech? It seemed so odd. Do you think he knows? Was he preparing the public for the news?”

  River felt a bit of relief since no news had actually talked about the secret, but there was something odd about the governor’s speech. Something that instantly set off bells in River’s head and had him wondering what was going on.

  “Maybe he got threatening phone calls too?” Mariah asked.

  “That’s possible. But I need to talk to Kimberly right away,” River said as he sent a text message to her.

  “Kimberly seemed surprised by his speech; did you see her face?” Elizabeth asked.

  “No, I was too busy watching the governor,” River replied.

  “Would someone like to let me know what the heck is going on,” Edward chimed in.

  River didn’t want to have to tell Edward, but on the same token, he didn’t want his friend and colleague to get blindsided by the news. River couldn’t risk losing the alliance he had with Edward, and that meant that he was going to have to tell Edward everything. It was necessary to prevent some bad sound bite from going out if the press were to contact Edward before the story came out.

  “It’s my vice president,” River said as he took control of the conversation. “We need to deal with things here; you two figure out what the governor knows. I’ll let you know if I hear from Kimberly. Goodbye,” River abruptly ended the call.

  Edward looked on as River fidgeted in his desk. It was obvious that Edward didn’t know something, and he wasn’t at all happy with River. The look he gave was cold as ice, and River tried to calm his voice before he began to talk. There was no reason to worry Edward; it might have just been an idle threat, and nothing was going to be done about it.

  “River, this is a billion dollar deal; if this has anything to do with our new product roll out, you better tell me right now.”

  “It doesn’t have something specific to do with the roll out, but it could affect it.”

  River knew he couldn’t lie to Edward anymore. The deal they were working on was huge, and it wasn’t worth River trying to deceive his friend any longer. He knew that Edward finally had to know the secret.

  “You know how I volunteer with the technology group,” River started as he watched Edward’s face for a reaction. “Well, my partner Jackson is more than just my partner in that group.”

  Edward stared at River as he tried to put together the pieces and figure out just what River was trying to get at. He looked bewildered as he processed the information that River was sharing with him.

  “He’s my son,” River blurted out.

  “Your what? You don’t have a son.”

  “Actually, I do, and his name is Jackson. I got partnered up with him so I could see him without taking away from his time with his family.”

  “So what? I don’t get it. So you have a son. There are a lot of guys who have kids out there. Are you paying child support? Helping to financially care for him? That’s all you can do if his mother won’t let you be involved.”

  River smiled at how Edward instantly stood up for River in the situation. It was clear that Edward was his friend and wasn’t about to let some story tarnish the reputation of his longtime friend.

  “There’s a bit more to the story than just that. Jackson’s mother had an affair with me. She’s married. I haven’t been involved in Jackson’s life because she pretended the child was hers with her husband, and I didn’t want to ruin their family.”

  Edward contemplated the news that he had received and tried to come to terms with the lie that River had told him for so many years. It was clear that Jackson meant a whole lot to River, and Edward didn’t mind that River had kept the secret, but why the hell was River so freaked out about the governor’s speech.

  River saw the look in Edward’s eyes as he started to figure out what was going on. He darted his eyes back and forth from the television to River as the events of the morning started to sink in.

  “The governor’s wife? River!” Edward exclaimed as he stood up. “You fucked the governor’s wife. Oh, Jesus.”

  As Edward collapsed back in his chair and let his head rest in his hands, River couldn’t help smiling at how serious Edward was. It certainly was a serious situation, and River wasn’t denying that, but Edward seemed to take the news very personally.

  “I’m sorry; I know I’ve lied to you. But to protect Jackson and Kimberly, and I didn’t want to tell anyone.”

  “Why tell me now?
What’s going on now? Is it about to come out?” River didn’t even get a chance to answer Edward before he started shaking his head. “Oh, no, no, no, no. Goddamn it, River, we are working with the top Christian food company in the world for this product release. Oh, we are so fucked.”

  River knew the feelings that were going through Edward’s mind very well; he’d had similar thoughts about himself over the previous weeks. But what was done was done, and they needed to move forward.

  “I’m sorry. It was over ten years ago; I can’t take it back. But there is someone threatening to break the news. They said it would come out after the governor announced his candidacy.”

  “Is it a rival of Emerald’s?” Edward asked.

  River paused and didn’t answer him, but instead dialed Mariah’s phone. That was someone they hadn’t even considered looking for before. Maybe the person didn’t have anything to do with River at all; maybe the caller was a political enemy of the governor.

  “The governor’s enemies; we need to find out who they are and see if any of them have a connection to me. Hire a private investigator if you have to; I’ll pay whatever it takes. We need to find this caller.”

  “Sure thing; I’ll get right on it and call you when we know anything more,” Mariah said.

  “Thanks, by the way, I just told my vice president.”

  “Good, I think that’s a wise business decision. I’ll call you later.”

  River hung up and turned back to his conversation with Edward. He knew that Edward probably had tons of questions and concerns about what had happened and how it would affect their business deal with Wholesome Foods.

  “Do you want me to cancel the contract negotiations?” Edward asked.

  “No, but we need to make sure there isn’t a clause about my behavior anywhere in their contract verbiage. I don’t want to get sued for not living up to their ideals.”

  River knew Wholesome Foods well, and they often put a ‘bad behavior’ clause into their contracts to give them a way out of business dealings if their partner company did something that was against the strict Christian beliefs of Wholesome Foods. As an example, Wholesome Foods terminated their contract with a large hospital organization when it learned the hospital would start doing abortions for women. It was a simple clause that could ruin everything for River and his company if his secret came out.